Golf project back on course

Tee time: Vietnam’s golfing industry will see major changes in the coming years

The project is expected to be completed in approximately three years.
Located on 248 hectares of land, the complex’s main components include an 18-hole golf course, an eco-tourism resort, a commercial centre and a housing complex.
The project is capitalised at $22 million, with construction of the golf course accounting for one-third.
In addition to attracting the expatriate community in the north, the course expects to service guests of nearby hotels, including the 400-room Nacimex Do Son Hotel, Do Son Casino Hotel and the Daso joint stock company’s hotel and housing complex.
Last week, local government officials met to consider detail development plans submitted by Ngan Anh, while Haiphong People’s Committee chairman, Tran Huy Nang, offered his approval, asking relevant authorities to complete land allocation procedures and move an aquaculture project out of the area.
Plans for the golf course were shelved back in 1997 when the foreign investor licensed to develop a $35.7 million golf course backed out following the regional economic slump.
Four projects in the north saw similar fates.
Ngan Anh is the third local investor to rescue collapsed foreign projects in north Vietnam following the Tam Dao Golf joint stock company in the Vinh Phuc province and the Chi Linh StarGolf project in Hai Duong province.
Sources said another local company is expected to start construction of a 36-hole course in Dai Lai Lake in Vinh Phuc that was also abandoned by a foreign investor.
The Do Son project is evidence of a whole host of new golf courses sprouting up in north Vietnam, with the current construction of two courses in the Hanoi region, one in Lang Son and one in Halong Bay.
Prior to last year’s Chi Linh StarGolf opening, the north’s only course was the Dong Mo in Ha Tay province.
But with the arrival of so many new courses, how strict will competition be?
Chi Linh general manager Lars Holden said he did not foresee this becoming an issue as long as high standards were kept up.
“My concern for the future is not about all the other courses coming but, more importantly, how we get more players involved in the game,” Holden said.
Not surprising, considering an average day’s play clocks in at $80, compared to the $400 annual per capita income of Vietnamese.
Many locals consider the sport a luxury; as a result, most players are expatriates.
To help things along, Holden points out that golf clubs in Vietnam should cooperate with one another, which would boost the industy’s growth in both the local and tourist market.